1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to the field of aircraft display units that present information to the pilot or flight crew of an aircraft on the surface of an airport.
2. Description of the Related Art
With a desire to reduce aircraft weight and with the proliferation of portable, lightweight electronic devices (e.g., notebooks, flight bags, and tablets), paper documents (e.g., checklists, charts, amps, etc. . . . ) are being used less by pilots of aircraft. With respect to maps, electronic moving maps such as an airport surface moving map (“ASMM”) are becoming ubiquitous throughout the aviation industry. Examples of aircraft providing ASMMs include the Boeing 787, the Airbus 380, and many business and regional jets. These maps are intended to increase surface situational awareness by displaying the airport map with ownship position and/or surface traffic overlay of other traffic.
Taxi clearances contain taxi instructions to pilots, and they are often provides via two-way radio communications between a pilot and a person authorized to issued the taxi clearance (e.g., an air traffic/ground controller). Taxi clearances may be communicated to the pilot using VHF radio. The pilot will hear the taxi clearance and record it as it is being heard. As the pilot hears the clearance, he or she may record or transcribe the clearance by writing it down on a piece of paper, notating the route on a paper chart, etc. . . . If the clearance is written down, the pilot may have to constantly shift his or her attention between the words of the clearance and a map of an airport to understand the route stated in the clearance. If the pilot records the clearance on a paper chart, mistakes made in the initial transcription may result with the erasing or crossing out of erroneous entries, which could confuse the pilot when he or she makes subsequent reference to it during the taxi.